


In the Woods Somewhere

by Rainsong



Category: Original Work, The Handmaid's Tale (TV), The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Genre: Epistolary, F/F, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 20:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainsong/pseuds/Rainsong
Summary: Things are taking a turn for the worse, and Marlowe, a trans lesbian and amateur survivalist, decides to take fate into her own hands and escape to her grandfather's old cottage, deep in the woods. She eventually meets Zahrah, a Muslim single mother who has been on the move with her son. They stay together for the winter...(Mostly original fiction, but intended to be coherent with early Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. Still a major WIP; I may change things as I go! Probably won't be 100% epistolary. Rated T for language, might get spicier later on.)





	In the Woods Somewhere

## September 12th

I’m sitting in the dining room. It doesn’t feel real. I’m really leaving. The house still looks like someone lives here, but the cupboards are empty. I loaded up all my food, all my blankets, anything that could be useful. I know I won’t be able to carry it all in. I packed my backpack and duffel bag with the essentials, and I’ve been practicing in the yard with Stephen. I filled the car (it was crazy expensive, but what else would I spent it on now), it should be enough to get me to the lake where the boat is. I don’t expect it to still be there, but maybe the canoe will be. We hid it really well last summer. If not, I’ll walk. My plan is to bring in as much as I can on the first trip, then go back and slowly empty the car. I think I can do it in two trips, if the car doesn’t get stolen first. I have to expect the worst. The camp has probably been broken into, might even have squatters. I packed some things I don’t need that I might be able to use to negotiate. That vodka sampler I was going to re-gift, cooking sherry, a tin of coffee, all the lighters, matches and candles I had, canned food, medicine, bandages. I didn’t want to look too suspicious, so I only packed what I had and what I was able to buy a little of this week. ~~I can’t think of anything else I could bring to trade.~~

I just ran to the bookshelf and got the King James Bible, the Quran and my Hebrew dictionary. Now _that_ is some contraband. They’re scholarly editions with notes in the margins, but they’re functional. Can’t believe that freshman World Religions class is actually useful after all these years. I packed a box of other books. They’re going to get burned, otherwise, when they discover I skipped town.

Dan and Reid warned me there was a checkpoint on the highway. I’m going to zigzag through the back roads. The old logging road Grandpa used to take us by is probably rough, but not many people know about it. I think it’s my best bet to reach the lake. It’s so fucking risky going out alone. I’m not even supposed to drive. I begged Henry to come, but Talia thinks it’s too risky for him to leave the city. I think we could manage to get him from the boat to the cottage, though, and then we can build him a ramp. I don’t know what else they’re going to do. Talia lost her job, like the rest of us, and Henry is worried he’ll be the first to go. At least they got married. Their neighbours got kicked out of their apartment because they had kids but weren’t married, and the landlord didn’t want them around. Lord knows what they’d do to me if Kate was still around. I found a few more of her things when I was packing. Books she loaned me but I never gave back, a t-shirt that was stuck behind the drawer. It’s not worth it to try and return them.

 

It was slow going to get to the lake. It’s almost dark. I’m going to sleep in the car and leave in the morning.

As I expected, I couldn’t take the highway. There were patrols even in the back roads. I took Reid’s advice and wore a ball cap and a jacket, tied my hair back so I looked more like a man, and I drove like I knew what I was doing. I thought a car was trailing me for a while so I had to keep making random turns until I lost it. Stephen threw up. I think he got motion sick. He’s not used to being in the car. I was almost out of gas by the time I got to the lake. Hopefully that deters thieves.

Miraculously, the canoe is there. The motor boat is gone, but the canoe was still tucked away under that fallen tree. I’ll be able to get there in a couple hours, and maybe come back tomorrow before anyone notices the car is here. I might drive back toward the road once it’s empty and leave it there, so it’s harder to know where I went. It’ll make some thieves happy in any case. I should leave them a note.

 

## September 13th

Canoe is packed. I have about half the food, all the medicine and stuff, all the camping and survival supplies, my winter clothes, the stuff I think I can barter with, and Stephen and all his things. I don’t know how he’ll do on the boat. Tough luck buddy, there’s nowhere else to go.

 

I stopped to eat and rest for a bit. Stephen wouldn’t shut up the whole time he was on the boat. I don’t think he’ll wander off, though, because he’s terrified and nauseous. We’re almost there. My arms are fucking tired from rowing, I forgot how hard this is.

 

The camp is empty, but it’s been torn apart. All the pots and pans and dishes are either missing or broken, the big window is smashed, the door was open, and I think there’s mice living in the bedroom. The garden’s been trampled and all the tools from the shed are missing. It looks like whoever was here didn’t even bother looking for the key—the door was broken in. The furniture in the cottage is mostly intact, though. The old TV with the built-in VCR was lying on its side, next to the door. It seems they were going to take it but decided not to. The tapes and stuff in the ottoman are still there. They probably didn’t realize it opened. There’s a bunch of old Archie comics in there, a Scrabble board, and all the movies we used to watch as kids.

I set up my sleeping bag on the couch. I’ll try and clean the bedroom once I get everything here. I don’t have a broom; I don’t know how to clean up the glass from the broken window. I put a sheet over it for now and tried to push the glass into a pile so Stephen doesn’t hurt himself.

I started doubting myself when I got here and saw that it had been looted. If people knew the camp was here, someone might be able to find me. But the break-in doesn’t seem recent. It might have been last winter, when the lake was frozen over and the camp was more visible from far away. I don’t know what I’ll do when it gets cold if that’s the case; smoke will draw attention. I’ll have to be careful. I doubt they patrol this area by air, but I can’t bet on that. I didn’t bring propane or anything.

 

## September 14th

Made it back to the car. Nobody’s been here yet. I had enough gas to get it almost back to the main road. Took me a while to walk back, but I think it was a good idea. It will be hard to tell where it came from, there’s enough intersections and side roads. I’m going to go back after I eat. The books and canned food make it a bit heavier than last time, but I think I can manage.

I haven’t seen anyone since I arrived. No sign of life at any other camps along the way. I had a close call along the road, I thought there was someone walking toward me so I hid in the brush, but it was a deer. She was beautiful.

 

Made it to the camp with daylight to spare, so I tried to make a broom out of a pine branch. It’s shitty, but I got rid of most of the glass on the floor, and I managed to clean the shards from the window frame with my gloves. I’m glad I brought them. I’ll board it up tomorrow. I’m making a can of beans and toast for supper. The bread won’t last long, so I’m enjoying it while I can. Stephen killed some of the mice from the bedroom, so he’s good to go. I put out a bowl of kibble for him, just in case.

It’s cold tonight. I’ll have to put out the fire as soon as I’m done cooking, though. I’ll bundle up to sleep. Stephen slept at my feet last night, but maybe tonight he’ll want to stay in the sleeping bag. He’s a good little heater.

 

## September 16th

Spent all of yesterday tidying up. A helicopter flew over in the late afternoon. I wonder if they follow a schedule; maybe I can track it and light my fire around it. It was between 4 and 5ish, but I didn’t have a clock with me because I was cutting wood. There’s nowhere for them to land right now, but they could send a boat out, and in the winter they’ll be able to land on the ice.

Peanut butter sandwich for supper tonight. I’ve only got two more slices of bread. I wish I had cheese, a grilled cheese would be great right now. Before it gets too dark, I’ll have a look in my books. Maybe there’s tips on making a fire with less smoke.

 

BINGO. There’s a diagram in my survival handbook of a Dakota fire. It will only work outside, but it barely makes any smoke, and you can’t see the flames from ground level which is an extra bonus. I can use it for cooking, at least. Dry wood makes less smoke, and hardwood makes less than soft wood. The hotter it is, the less smoke, usually. There’s still tons of wood in the shed; I’ll try and figure out which is which tomorrow, and bring some in.

 

## September 25th

Seems they patrol every other day by air between 4 and 4:30. That’s really useful. I’ll still try and be careful with my fires.

Stephen brought me some kind of mole this morning. I didn’t want it to go to waste, it was so big, so I cooked it and let him eat most of it. I ate a leg. It tasted weird and I didn’t really like it. My stomach is feeling funny. Probably because I haven’t eaten meat in five years. Food is food though, and Stephen is a good boy.

Tomorrow’s a foraging day. I have a list of roots and barks to look for, and I’ll keep an eye out for any last berries. I need to figure out what I can store for the winter. I’m trying to save my canned stuff for the hardest times. I don’t have a fishing rod, but I might be able to make a simple one with the fishing line I found in the shed. My book has instructions for making snare traps, too. I don’t love the idea, but if I want to make it through the winter I’ll probably need to eat meat, and Stephen definitely will. If I trap some rabbits and catch some fish now, I can smoke them so they last longer. They’ll taste gross either way. I wonder if there’s an easy way to catch birds. I’m still a bit too squeamish to try insects. Maybe if I mix them with something…

 

## October 22nd

Starting to get colder. I think it dropped below freezing last night. I’ll have to start making fire in the evenings, soon. I started thinking today about what I wish I had. It’s stupid, I’ll never be able to get any of it now, but it’s nice to dream. I wish I had canning supplies, and salt to preserve my meat longer, and an extra pair of boots, and a better container to carry water.

 

## November 1st

There’s someone across the lake. I haven’t seen any activity for months, but there’s a campfire. I don’t know if I should risk taking the canoe out. I might go by foot and be sneakier. I have to see. I’m laying low right now. I haven’t lit a fire or left the camp. I’ll bring some things to barter with in case things get hairy, but ideally I won’t be seen at all.


End file.
